How many buildings are there in the world 2022

Popular Mechanics; Courtesy Andrew Madali/Getty Images

Some of the most impressive modern marvels are the incredibly high skyscrapers that rise above the clouds and seem to go on forever. Sometimes they’re residential buildings, sometimes they’re offices, and sometimes they’re a hybrid mix of offices, apartments, and even hotel rooms.

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The views are stunning, but they come at a cost. Take the Burj Khalifa in downtown Dubai; it features residential units that range from studios to an opulent five-bedroom penthouse that was going for $27,770,000 in 2017.

We picked the most surreal, awe-inspiring, vertigo-inducing structures and compiled them into this list of the 31 tallest buildings in the world, starting with the the biggest of them all.

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Location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Height: 2,717 feet

Completion Date: 2010

An innovative, tri-pedal design, along with projecting edges to cut through the wind like the front of a boat, afford the building greater stability. But these are just a few of the smart ways the Burj Khalifa succeeded in rising to its record-setting height; the building soars more than 700 feet over its nearest competitor.

The race upward has accelerated in the last couple decades, as governments and citizens have pulled together the means for erecting record-breaking tall buildings, particularly in emerging economies in East Asia and the Middle East. “It’s a recognition that they want to project their image out into the global scene,” says Daniel Safarik of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) located at the Illinois Institute of Technology. “One easy way physically to do that, in a relative sense, is with a skyscraper.”

The same designer of the Burj Khalifa, Adrian Smith, has drawn up an even more ambitious project, the Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia. It was slated to open in 2017 and soar to 3,281 feet—a full kilometer—but the completion is now in limbo, stalled by “Saudi political intrigue and COVID shutdowns.” About one-third of the building is complete, but there are currently no plans to restart construction.

Location: Shanghai, China

Height: 2,073 feet

Completion date: 2014

Twisting to the sky with 128 floors that make the Shanghai Tower one of the tallest in the world, the design from Gensler embraces an inner glass façade and a twirling exterior. While the inside of the tower features nine zones created by the stacking of interior components atop of one another, the curved exterior not only provides a unique aesthetic as the third of three skyscrapers in close proximity, but also offers an engineering benefit by reducing wind loads.

With one of the world’s highest observation decks opened to the public in 2016, expect plenty of views of the city.

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3

Makkah Royal Clock Tower Hotel

Location: Mecca, Saudi Arabia

Height: 1,972 feet

Completion Date: 2012

Big Ben done bigger, the Makkah Royal Clock Tower Hotel was built to afford comfortable accommodations to wealthy Muslim pilgrims making the Hajj. A factor that contributes to the building reaching so high: its gigantic footprint. A broader base supports greater height, as we’ve all learned first-hand playing with LEGO bricks as kids. “I think this building is getting by on sheer mass,” said Safarik. “You can see the way that the other buildings around it have a stabilizing effect.”

Location: Shenzhen, China

Height: 1,965 feet

Completion date: 2017

The Special Economic Zone of Shenzhen, China, has really spurred on growth. And that includes upward growth, seen in the 2017 completion of the concrete and steel Ping An Finance Center. Intensely dense and connected into the center of the city—it sits on the high-speed rail corridor—the mix of hotel, office and retail offers a modern approach to skyscrapers in China. American firm Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates designed its 115 floors.

Location: Seoul, South Korea

Height: 1,819 feet

Completion date: 2017

The 123 floors of the Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates-designed Lotte World Tower became the first 100-story building in Korea. The steel building curves inward as it rises, and the glass used was meant to serve as a reminder of Korean ceramic history. A mix of retail, office, hotel, residence, and event space fills the tower.

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Location: New York City, United States

Height: 1,776 feet

Completion Date: 2014

The spire of One World Trade Center attains a height of exactly 1,776 feet—a shout-out to the birth year of the United States. The building proper is only around 1,300 feet tall, but the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) chose to count spire toward the building’s official height. That decision saw the new building controversially eclipse the Willis Tower in Chicago (later in this list) as the tallest building in North America.

Safarik said spires have accordingly provoked controversy within CTBUH itself. “We continue to have this debate,” he says.

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7

Tianjin Chow Tai Fook Binhai Center

Location: Tianjin, China

Height: 1,739 feet

Completion date: September 2019

The groundbreaking ceremony for the Tianjin Chow Tai Fook (CTF) Binhai Center took place in November 2009. The building features a curved glass look which was accomplished by using eight massive, strategically placed columns that provide support and stability and are designed to help keep the building upright in the event of an earthquake or other seismic activity. The taper seen on the edifice not only looks cool, but also helps minimize the amount of surface area exposed to the elements. The Tianjin CTF center is easy to spot if you ever find yourself in the city—it towers over the surrounding buildings in the area.

Honorable mention: The Guangzhou Chow Tai Fook Finance Center (sometimes referred to as the CTF Finance Center) in Guangzhou, China is also 1,739 feet tall.

Location: Beijing, China

Height: 1,731 feet

Completion date: 2018

Fully topped out in 2017, and completed in 2018, this is the tallest building in Beijing. The unique design from TFP Farrels + Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates curves the building inward as it rises before it curves outward again near the top of the 109-floor structure. The mixed-use building provides a completely fresh perspective on Beijing skyscrapers, likely to lead the way for years to come.

Location: Taipei, Taiwan

Height: 1,667 feet

Completion Date: 2004

Taipei 101 “adopts some of the vernacular architecture of the region where it’s built,” Safarik says. “Here you have a classic, stacked pagoda look, which is a common thing throughout Asia.” Furthermore, the building has eight segments of eight floors each, a nod to the auspicious nature of the numeral 8 in the Chinese-speaking world.

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10

Shanghai World Financial Center

Location: Shanghai, China

Height: 1,622 feet

Completion Date: 2008

You can buy bottle openers shaped like this building thanks to the open space at the very top that resembles the tool we use to crack into a cold one. The little souvenirs can be found within the observation deck gift shop, one of 101 floors within the massive structure. The building is used for several purposes and includes offices, hotel rooms, conference rooms, and even shopping on the ground floor.

11

International Commerce Centre

Location: Hong Kong, China

Height: 1,588 feet

Completion Date: 2010

This big building was a big gamble for its developers, given its relative isolation from the rest of Hong Kong’s high rises, but the International Commerce Center is doing just fine. The mixed-use office and hotel building has a 97 percent occupancy rate and excellent in-building services such as a 24-hour concierge.

According to the 2009 book, Exploring Hong Kong: A Visitor’s Guide to Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and the New Territories, ICC’s designers had wanted to make it the tallest building then on the planet. But a local ordinance, which outlaws structures from rising higher than nearby mountains, stymied the dream.

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12

Wuhan Greenland Center

Location: Wuhan, China

Height: 1,560 feet

Completion: 2022

Work on this skyscraper began in June 2012, and it faced various setbacks along the way. For one, designers originally planned for the building to reach 2,087 feet, but due to local airspace restrictions—which stated that buildings must not exceed 1,640 feet above sea level—the team had to go back to the drawing board.

The project was then put on hold several times in mid-2017 due to a cadre of issues, including financial problems and the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, the building topped out at 1,560 feet, and it was fully completed in 2022. The final price tag? A whopping $4.5 million, largely due to the aforementioned setbacks.

Today, the skyscraper features hotel rooms and office space in addition to parking space, banquet halls, and even bike storage space.

Location: New York City, United States

Height: 1,550 feet

Completion: 2020

Located at 217 W. 57th St., Central Park Tower is located along Billionaire’s Row in midtown and is also known as Nordstrom Tower (because of the Nordstrom store on the lower floors). This structure is the tallest residential building in the world, housing 179 condo units that start at a cool $7 million. The $3 billion project is also the second-tallest building in the U.S. and features incredible views of its namesake park.

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Location: St. Petersburg, Russia

Height: 1,516 feet

Completion date: 2019

Spiking straight into the sky, the distinct design of the Lakhta Center on the outskirts of St. Petersburg offers a “lonely spire in a horizontal landscape” that will serve as the centerpiece to a growing neighborhood around it that includes plenty of open space for pedestrians. The building includes thermal insulation via a double-glazed façade to combat the summertime heat and an ice-formation control system for winter weather.

Location: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Height: 1,514 feet

Completion date: 2018

Located on the Saigon River, Landmark 81—the 81 floors ensure this isn’t just a clever name for a building—marks the tallest building in Vietnam. Designed by Atkins from Britain, the stair-stepping aesthetic of the building provides a distinct design and serves as the centerpiece of a new mixed-use neighborhood.

16

Petronas Towers 1 and 2

Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Height: 1,483 feet (each)

Completion Date: 1998

A two-story skybridge connects these twin towers at the 41st and 42nd floors. It not only gives the structure its iconic look, but it also “speaks to the future of tall buildings” and urban development, Safarik says. That future will involve connecting tall buildings at height, he argues, so that people in large buildings can cross from one to another without going all the way down to the ground and up again. Few but the Petronas towers have that feature today.

Honorable mention: The Changsha IFS Tower T1 in Changsha, China is also 1,483 feet tall. The taller twin tower of the Changsha IFS complex meant to attract high-end financial institutions offers visitors to China a Wong Tung & Partners design featuring a rectangle form with glass and metal. The Tower 1 design includes incremental setbacks near the top to help match the shorter second tower without dwarfing its existence. At 94 floors, expect a mix of uses within the building.

Location: Nanjing, China

Height: 1,476 feet

Completion Date: 2010

Zifeng was designed by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, the firm behind the Burj Khalifa, and the resemblances are easy to spot. Here, the cutaway look is meant to mimic a dragon wrapping around the structure. Another neat detail Safarik noticed during his visit is that many windows pop out several degrees, a little like those tiny smoking windows found in the back seat of older cars. “It’s pretty rare you can open windows in a building that tall,” Safarik says.

Honorable mention: The Suzhou International Financial Square (IFS) in Jiangsu, China is also 1,476 feet tall.

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Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Height: 1,462 feet

Completion date: 2019

Using a 12-story illuminated crown to accentuate the height of The Exchange 106 in the Tun Razak Exchange financial district development in Kuala Lumpur, the new skyscraper gives visitors a shiny new example of height in Malaysia. The Peter Chan Architect design is structurally completed with the opening, including a mix of uses of the 106-floor building.

Location: Chicago, United States

Height: 1,451 feet

Completion Date: 1974

Formerly, and still better known as the Sears Tower, this hefty, blocky office building’s design is unusual, and it will probably stay that way. “I don’t think you’re going to see something like this built again,” said Safarik. “It’s just so gigantic in its lower floors.” When the tower was constructed, huge typing pools filled whole floors, with armies of employees cut off from windows and natural lighting—a big no-no nowadays.

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Location: Shenzhen, China

Height: 1,449 feet

Completion Date: 2011

The Kingkey, or KK100, is the jewel of the Shenzhen, a major manufacturing metropolis just north of Hong Kong. The building’s distinctive, transparent, glassed-over top portion hosts a restaurant and mall.

21

Guangzhou International Finance Center

Location: Guangzhou, China

Height: 1,439 feet

Completion Date: 2010

This skyscraper’s exoskeleton prominently displays a diagrid structural system, in which steel support beams crisscross diagonally, forming diamond shapes made up of two triangular sections. These sections cut down on the amount of steel needed compared to conventional frames while remaining structurally sound.

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Location: Wuhan, China

Height: 1,437 feet

Completion Date: 2019

Construction on the Wuhan Center (not to be confused with the Wuhan Greenland Center) began in 2011. The building, which is located next to Mengze Lake along the Yangzhi River and is split into five vertical portions, features 88 floors above ground, four below it, and is home to hotel rooms, residential units, and office space. The inspiration for the look of the building was a ship.

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Location: New York City, United States

Height: 1,428

Completion Date: 2015

Also known as 111 W. 57 St., the Steinway Tower is another Billionaire’s Row building in midtown that is split into two sections: Steinway Hall (named after famed piano manufacturer, Steinway and Sons) and a newer tower which, combined, offer 84 luxe condos starting at approximately $8.75 million. The views—incredible sweeping panoramas of NYC and Central Park—are spectacular for those able to fork over several million dollars for a place to call home. Steinway Tower is the thinnest residential skyscraper in the world featuring a width-to-height ratio of 1:24.

Location: New York City, United States

Height: 1,401

Completion Date: 2020

One Vanderbilt is also located in midtown and is a stone’s throw from Grand Central Station. The building takes up an entire block and several stories are designated office space. The remaining space includes an observation deck and plans for a couple of restaurants, too. This building contains 67 floors, which may not seem like a lot for such a massive structure, due to the fact that each floor has high ceilings (some reach 20 feet!)

Honorable mention: The Dongguan International Trade Center 1 in Guangdong, China is also 1,401 feet tall.

Location: New York City, United States

Height: 1,397 feet

Completion date: 2015

The tallest all-residential skyscraper in the world includes 104 luxury condominiums spread out over its 88 floors. Designed by Rafael Vinoly, the concrete-core building with a base of 33,000 square feet was able to slide into Manhattan on the lot formerly home to the Drake Hotel. Located between E 56th and E 57th streets and just one block from Trump Tower, 432 Park Ave has some of the priciest apartments in all of New York City, and that’s saying something.

432 Park Ave. is also a divisive property (especially on TikTok), with millions hating on its “ugly” façade and the fact it sticks out so much from the rest of the NYC skyline. There’s also that New York Times exposé about the less-than-perfect living conditions (think leaks and water damage, creaking sounds, rapidly rising insurance costs, and out-of-service elevators) at the building which many believe to be because of its insane height.

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Location: Dubai, UAE

Height: 1,394 feet

Completion date: 2017

While a recent completion, Marina 101 includes plenty of art-deco design to contrast the modernity of Dubai. Situated in the city’s Marina district at 101 floors—hence the building’s name—the design from the National Engineering Bureau creates a crown capping the building, a façade that includes a granite base with aluminum cladding and a variety of colors to handle the shifting light in Dubai. Largely a residential building, Marina 101 also includes the Middle East’s first Hard Rock Hotel.

27

Trump International Hotel & Tower

Location: Chicago, United States

Height: 1,389 feet

Completion Date: 2009

This recent addition to the Windy City’s skyline appears to reflect the signature angular styling of the Willis Tower, but the story setbacks—those ledges where the building steps back from its lower heights—were more explicitly designed to align with the heights of nearby structures such as the Wrigley Building and the Marina City Towers. The Trump International Tower and Hotel also stands as the tallest building in the world to use reinforced concrete as its primary structural material.

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Location: Shanghai, China

Height: 1,380 feet

Completion Date: 1999

This tower, which shares the pagoda styling of Taipei 101, harbors a secret: a 31-story atrium, part of the Grand Hyatt Shanghai hotel, with corridors winding around it in a spiral. “It’s one of the most spectacular spaces you’ll see in a supertall [building],” Safarik says. The Jin Mao Tower is a neighbor to the Shanghai World Financial Center, No. 5 on this list, which served as the perch for this photograph.

Location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Height: 1,356 feet

Completion Date: 2012

The Princess Tower is the tallest residential building in the world. At least, until New York City’s 432 Park Avenue started dominating the skyline.

Location: Kuwait City, Kuwait

Height: 1,354 feet

Completion Date: 2011

“It looks quasi-impossible,” Safarik says. The Al Hamra Tower’s draped curtain styling is intended to block out the Sun where its rays would fall most intensely, thus aiding in the passive cooling of a building that must endure Kuwait’s sweltering climate.

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31

Two International Finance Centre

Location: Hong Kong, China

Height: 1,352 feet

Completion Date: 2003

Across the harbor from the International Commerce Center (No. 6 on this list), this building has the fortune of being sited over relatively shallow bedrock, about 100 feet down. (Closer bedrock means a foundation does not have to run as deep.) Still, for stability, Two International Finance Center sits on a “raft” foundation—a thick slab of concrete reinforced with steel, typically used in soft soil or marshy conditions.

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